- General Collections
- 1941
- 1942
- Battles of Java Sea and Sunda Strait
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- Early Naval Raids
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- Battle of Midway
- Submarine Combat Patrols
- Battle of the Atlantic
- Solomons Campaign: Guadalcanal
- Operation Torch: Invasion of North Africa
- Building the Infrastructure for War
- Manning the U.S. Navy
- 1943
- Establishment of Numbered Fleets
- The Aleutians Campaign
- Battle of the Atlantic—Continued
- On the Offensive Beyond Guadalcanal
- Sicilian Campaign: Operation Husky
- Tarawa: Breaking into the Gilberts
- Landings at Salerno, Italy: Operation Avalanche
- Naval Air Strikes Against German Shipping: Operation Leader
- 1944
- Operation Shingle: Landing at Anzio, Italy
- Gamble at Los Negros: The Admiralty Islands Campaign
- Evacuation by Submarine: USS Angler in the Philippines
- Securing New Guinea: Operations Reckless and Persecution
- Exercise Tiger: Disaster at Slapton Sands
- Defeating the Sharks: The Capture of U-505
- Pearl Harbor Ablaze Again: The West Loch Disaster
- Operation Overlord: Invasion of Normandy
- Operation Forager: The Battle of Saipan
- The Battle of the Philippine Sea
- Port Chicago Naval Magazine Explosion
- Operation Forager Continued: Landings on Guam and Tinian
- Operation Dragoon: The Invasion of Southern France
- Operation Stalemate II: The Battle of Peleliu
- The Battle of Leyte Gulf
- The Battle off Samar: The Sacrifice of "Taffy 3"
- United States Navy War Instructions, 1944
- The Japanese “Hell Ships” of World War II
- 1945
- Battle of Iwo Jima
- Navy Nurses Behind Enemy Lines in the Philippines
- Operation Plunder: Crossing the Rhine
- Battle of Okinawa
- Okinawa Highlights: 4-11 April 1945
- Battle of Okinawa: Historic Overview & Importance
- Okinawa Highlights: 12–19 April 1945
- Kamikaze Attack on USS Isherwood
- The Destruction of USS Pringle
- The Sinking of USS Little
- The Most Dangerous Place off Okinawa
- A Kamikaze Attack on New Mexico, Fifth Fleet Flag: A Photo Essay
- A Ceremony for the Fallen: Aftermath of a Kamikaze Attack
- Admiral Spruance Recounts Kamikaze Attack on His Flagship, New Mexico (BB-40)
- On the Verge of Breaking Down Completely: Combat Fatigue off Okinawa and the Destruction of USS Longshaw
- Investigating Okinawa: The Story Behind A Kamikaze Pilot’s Scarf
- The Loss of USS Twiggs at Okinawa
- The Most Difficult Antiaircraft Problem Yet Faced By the Fleet
- Victory in Europe (V-E) Day
- Japan's Surrender and Aftermath
- World War II Profiles in Duty
- ENS Allen W. Bain and Minneapolis (CA-36)
- LT Eugene A. Barham and Laffey (DD-459)
- LT Richard H. Best of VB-6
- LCDR Joseph W. Callahan and Ralph Talbot (DD-390)
- LT Albert P. “Scoofer” Coffin of Torpedo Ten
- MAtt1/c Leonard R. Harmon and CDR Mark H. Crouter of San Francisco (CA-38)
- CDR Frank A. Erickson—First Helicoptar SAR
- CDR Ernest E. Evans of Johnston (DD-557)
- S1/c James Fahy on Montpelier (CL-57)
- Float Plane Pilots in the Pacific
- AMM1/c Bruno P. Gaido of VS-6
- CAPT Joy Bright Hancock
- Charles Kleinsmith and Yorktown (CV-5)
- LCDR Edwin T. Layton of PACFLT N2
- LCDR Maxwell F. Leslie of VB-3
- LCDR Eugene E. Lindsey of VT-6
- ENS Donald W. Lynch and Mugford (DD-389)
- Theodore W. Marshall of VP-22
- LCDR Lance E. Massey of VT-3
- LCDR Bernard F. McMahon and Drum (SS-228)
- ARM1/c Oliver Rasmussen
- LTJG Melvin C. Roach, Guadalcanal Fighter Pilot
- CDR Joseph J. Rochefort and "Station Hypo"
- Chief Machinist William A. Smith and Enterprise (CV-6)
- LTJG Steffenhagen and Shōhō
- Submerged Appendectomy
- LCDR John C. Waldron of VT-8
- LCDR William J. “Gus” Widhelm of Scouting Eight
- Theater of Operations--Pacific
- Boats-Ships--Cruisers
- Biography
- World War II 1939-1945
- Image (gif, jpg, tiff)
Seaman First Class James Fahy and the Eternal Aspects of War
Times change, technologies change, but human nature remains constant.
The summer of 1944 found Seaman First Class James Fahy at sea in the Pacific onboard Montpelier (CL-57). The light cruiser began shelling Saipan on 14 June to support the Marianas invasion, participated in the Battle of the Philippine Sea from 19 to 21 June, and then returned to the Marianas to continue shelling Saipan, Tinian, and Guam.
Before enlisting in the Navy at the age of 24, Fahy was the happy driver of a garbage truck in Waltham, Massachusetts. A remarkably unflappable, optimistic, and devout Roman Catholic, Fahy believed that the Good Lord would protect him and his shipmates through thick and thin. Although he would spend nearly three years at sea, witness appalling casualties inflicted upon nearby warships and Marines ashore, and suffer the deprivations that war visits upon all who serve, his spirit remained generally upbeat.
Nevertheless, these extraordinary demands got to him from time to time. On 3 July 1944, he recorded one such occasion in a secret diary he kept throughout the war. “Last night I got about a half hour sleep,” he wrote. “I could not find a place topside to keep dry. I took a shower at 10 P.M. and it stopped raining about 11 P.M. I went on watch from midnight to 4 A.M. I hit the sack after 4 A.M. and all hands went to General Quarters at 4:45 A.M. There is one thing you do not have to worry about getting out here, and that is a good night’s sleep. There is no such thing as that. Most of our time is spent at battle stations. In all the time that I have been out here I only slept below in my bunk a few times, because it is too hot. You sleep on the steel deck with your clothes on and use your shoes as a pillow. . . . It will be quite a treat for us when we return home and go to sleep in a bed with nothing to spoil our sleep. It is just the little things in life that you look forward to. . . .”
—Robert J. Schneller, Jr., Naval Historical Center, June 2008
More "Profiles in Duty: Vignettes of Naval Service and Leadership"
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